Musotima nitidalis

Checklist Number
63.119 [B&F: 1355a]

Verification
Record will be accepted (subject to date and location checks)

Classification

Family:Crambidae
Subfamily:Musotiminae
Genus:Musotima
Species:nitidalis
Authority:(Walker, [1866])

First trapped at Merritown Heath, Dorset on 11 August 2009 by Mike Jeffes and David Evans, and identified at the BENHS Exhibition that year by Martin Honey (BMNH) as the present species, a native of New Zealand which feeds on various fern species. Certainly introduced by the horticultural trade, it has since spread widely, with multiple sightings from other sites close to the original trapping location and in Hurn Forest (in Dorset, but in the VC11 South Hampshire vice-county), but also as far as East and West Sussex, and Harlow in Essex. Unmistakable.

The abundance in each month is indicated as follows:

No records
Very occasional
Irregular
Uncommon
Off-peak, but not unusual
Off-peak, but not unusual
Main flight time
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Adult
Larval

Records by week (adult)

Records by week (larval)